2.1, Repentance (Khutbah)

Allah, the Exalted says in the Qur’an, “And all of you beg Allah to forgive you, O believers, that you may be successful.” (24:31)

In another place, Allah, the Glorified and Exalted says, “Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to him in repentance.” (11:3)

Further, Allah says, “O you who believe, turn to Allah with sincere repentance.” (66:8)

As we approach the winter holidays, what lies ahead is a much-needed break away from our busy schedules and a nice time-out away from our current routines. This period away, we can spend it in one of two ways:

Firstly, we can sleep and eat through it and find ourselves back here in three weeks time just as we left. Or, alternatively, in stepping away from our routines and breaking away from our busy schedules we can use this time to reflect, further distinguish right from wrong and take steps towards purification.

Also, there are some amongst us who will be heading for Hajj and I want to use this opportunity to leave them with no doubt as to the Mercy of their Lord in whose path they will be treading.

It is as the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, “He who repents before the sun rises from the west, Allah will forgive him.” (Muslim)

What is this repentance? It is to turn from old habits to new resolutions, to turn away from sins to Allah. When a person commits a sin, he goes away from Allah. On the other hand, when he desires Allah’s pardon and to draw near Him, he returns to Allah. This turning and returning to Allah is repentance.

The Compassion of Allah towards his slaves and the merits of repentance is as Allah’s Messenger said, “Verily, Allah is more delighted with the repentance of His slave than a person who lost his camel in a desert land and then finds it (unexpectedly).” (Bukhari and Muslim)

Imagine you are in a waterless desert and your camel carrying all your provisions is lost. After a time, you lose all hope of getting it back and disappointedly lie down in shade. You fear that there is no escape. Then, all of a sudden, when all hope was lost, you find your camel standing before you. How happy would you be? Words would not be able to explain your joy. Well, know that Allah is more delighted with your repentance than you would be with the discovery of your camel. Indeed, Allah is highly pleased with repentance.

How often should we make this repentance? How often should we turn our attention and hopes to Allah? Once in a lifetime at Hajj? Once a year during Ramadhan? Once a week at Jum’ah? Only when things get bad? Just at exam time?

The Messenger of Allah said, “By Allah, I seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him more than seventy times a day.” (Bukhari)

If this was the frequency with which Allah’s Messenger asked forgiveness – the best of mankind, whose past and future sins were forgiven – then how about us?

We see in this Hadith great emphasis on consistently seeking pardon. Further, there is no doubt in my mind that we commit more than seventy sins per day, whether that is through lustful gazes, slips of the tongue, listening to musical obscenity or walking to places of filth. So then, how about us, who commit sins on regular basis, not to seek pardon and forgiveness from Allah?

Sincere and ceaseless prayer with this frequency (more than 70 times a day) is essential so that our sins – intentional and unintentional - are forgiven.